ABA had mixed feelings about the recent
resignation of our Board Treasurer, Mr Arvind Garg.
While we were all delighted for Mr. Garg when he
received news of a Shell International posting to
the Netherlands (which is what he wanted
professionally) we were deeply saddened to know
that he would leave the ABA Board.
Mr Garg was elected to
the ABA Board in the 2003-2004 academic year. He served for several years as a
member of the Finance Committee and in 2007 he assumed the responsibilities of
Board Treasurer. We send our sincere thanks to Mr Garg for his invaluable
contributions to our Mission and Vision and wish him well in his new assignment.
The Board unanimously
invited Mr Simon Gibbons to serve as Board Treasurer for the remainder of this
academic year. If Mr. Gibbons chooses, he may stand for election to the Board
in May.
Mr Gibbons joined the
National Bank of Oman as General Manager and Chief Financial Officer in August,
2009. He has two children
attending kindergarten 3 and grade 2 at ABA.
His professional
career commenced in 1991 with PriceWaterhouse Coopers and in subsequent years
included employment with Royal & Sun Alliance, Deloitte Consulting and Barclays
Bank. A significant portion of his career has been spent with Barclays Bank
where after a series of UK and International postings he was appointed Chief
Financial Officer in charge of the UAE & Gulf activities of Barclays.
In his finance career
of almost twenty years, Mr. Gibbons has worked in numerous territories,
including the UK, Botswana, South Africa, the Caribbean, UAE and Qatar. Prior
to joining National Bank of Oman, Mr. Simon held the position of Chief Financial
Officer at Commercial Bank of Qatar. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant
(Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales) and has a Bachelor of
Arts (Honours) from Newcastle University in the UK.
We are most fortunate
to have Mr. Gibbons’ expertise and insights for this most important position on
the Board. On behalf of the entire ABA Board and community, we extend our
thanks to Mr. Gibbons for his willingness to serve ABA.
The Board’s major fund
raiser will occur on April 29th at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. The
traditional ABA Ball promises to include first class cuisine and entertainment.
Tickets are available for RO 50/person. Members of the Board have been working
hard to sell corporate tables at RO 500/table and gain sponsorship money from
local companies in order to meet our target of raising RO 10,000 to pay towards
the loan for the secondary school building. If you are able and willing to
support our efforts, please collect your tickets from the administration
office. Better yet, if you can arrange for a group of parents to purchase a
‘corporate table’ we would be extremely grateful. Thank you for your continued
support.
This
past week, H.E. Seiji Morimoto, Ambassador of
Japan, welcomed the renowned trio ‘Ryu’s Beat with
Kano and Saga’ to ABA. The trio demonstrated
their musical talents on the Japanese drums, the
Japanese bamboo flute (Shinobue), the Mongolian
fiddle, and a unique throat singing demonstration
was the highlight for many of our students.
ABA students were
fortunate to attend a ‘command performance’ on Sunday afternoon in
exchange for ABA’s willingness to co-host the performers for a
Monday night concert. More than 400 people attended the evening
performance and after almost two hours of listening to the talented
musicians’ fusion of Japanese and continental Asian tunes, the
audience responded with a standing ovation. A similar demonstration
of gratitude was provided by our very own ABA students in grades 4
to 8 on Sunday afternoon.
ABA has worked hard to
establish respectful and collaborative relationships with the local
community. We continue to encourage the different Embassies in Oman
to use our Performing Arts Center for the various cultural events
the Ambassadors bring to the city. In exchange, ABA students are
the recipients of extraordinary cultural and musical feasts, which
contribute to our Vision of creating “…an environment of
intercultural understanding and respect.” On behalf of the ABA
community, I extend our thanks to H.E. Seiji Morimoto for including
us in this week’s ‘spirit of Japanasia’.
This weekend ABA will
participate in the EMAC Junior and Varsity basketball tournament.
ABA students and their coaches will travel to Dubai and Kuwait to
meet their competition on the basketball courts. We wish all our
students and their coaches the very best in their endeavors to
finish victorious and with admirable sportsmanship as their trophy.
We thank Mr. Sylvester, Mrs. Rambo, Mr. Rosky and Mr. Allum (Mrs.
Rosky, our JV girls’ coach is unable to travel this weekend due to
her professional commitments at ABA) for coaching and accompanying
our students to their respective destinations.
Last weekend our
students participated in the EMAC Academic Games in Egypt. Isa
Gailani, Torridon Linskaill, Gaetano Lococo and Avinash Menon
demonstrated their academic brilliance on a job well done at the JV
Academic Games tournament in Alexandria.
Overall, ABA came in
second place in the tournament (out of 14 teams). However, ABA
boys finished first in the science challenge, and placed well in
the mathematics and spelling challenges (Gaetano placed first out of
all the students in maths, and Torridon advanced to the final
spelling 'bee').
With only a few points
separating them from first place, our students returned satisfied
with their performance and proud of their accomplishments (that’s
better than a trophy as far as I’m concerned!). Mr. McBride and
Mrs. Bina Philips coached our students to success and we thank them
for their dedication to academic excellence.
We also extend our
sincere thanks to Severine Gerard, Mario Giraldo, Gerry Kouwenhoven,
Allan Wake, Kirsty McDougall, Terry Storer, Patricia Bruce, Jennifer
Purpura, John McGuiness, Wayne Foster, Adam Cole, Leona West and Ty
Frederickson for accompanying our grade 11 students on trips to
France, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Interior of Oman and local
community projects last week.
And finally, I extend my
appreciation and admiration to Ms. Kirsty McDougall and my
colleagues who kindly accompanied our grade 8 students on the three
day ‘Adventure Oman’ experience this past week.
We are most fortunate to
have teachers who are committed to developing the full human
potential of every child studying at ABA and volunteering their days
and nights to ensure this development happens. Well done colleagues
and thank you.
Due to circumstances,
Mrs Caroline Jepson is unable to continue in her role as the PTA
representative for the Kindergarten. We would like to thank Caroline
for her hard work and enthusiasm in this role.
If you are interested in
becoming our ECE representative, please contact Mrs. Jan Madden.
To all our wonderful mothers who will be honored by their families
on Sunday for ‘Mother’s Day’, ABA sends our heartfelt wishes for a
very special day and thank you for contributing to the welfare of
all our ABA children! Happy Mother’s Day!
On the
recommendation of our student councils, Kargeen,
who manage the cafeteria, will replace plastic
plates with biodegradable plates that are more
robust than paper ones as from next week. This
move is a major step in protecting the environment
and meets our Middle States Association objective
on the environment. Thank you Kargeen!
Next Sunday 14th March we will welcome
renowned children’s author, Neil Griffiths to ABA
to work and read to all grade levels, K1-Grade 5.
Neil worked with the staff last year and this year
we will get to see him put his theories into
practice as he presents to the children. The last
part of the day has been set aside for Neil to
present to our Elementary parent body in the PAC.
Neil will take this opportunity to give his
perspective on reading to children and the power
of literature. He is a highly entertaining man
with a keen sense of humour, who will leave you in
no doubt about his take on schooling and reading.
He will present from 1:15pm to approximately
2:00pm so I would encourage you to come to school
a bit earlier on that day and enjoy the
presentation – free of charge.
Please keep in mind that Student Led conferences
are coming up on Sunday 28th, Monday 29th and
Tuesday 30th of March. All information and an
invitation to attend these will go out on Monday
15th of March.
News from the
Assist Elem Principal/PYP Coordinator ...
Every
Monday afternoon the elementary section has a
faculty meeting. This past meeting was dedicated
to collaborative planning which is a huge
component of the Primary Years Programme.
Collaborative planning gives the specialist
teachers (Arabic, IT, Library, PE, PSE, Music, SLN,
ESL) the opportunity to sit with each grade level
and discuss the upcoming units. Meaningful
connections between classroom and specialist
teachers and their curricula are made in an effort
to support the students that they teach.
Upcoming Units of Inquiry for each grade level:
Grade Level
Unit of Inquiry
Central Idea
K1
What Can I Use This For?
People use different materials and resources
to express their feelings and ideas
K2
Express Yourself
Through the Arts,
people express their ideas and feelings, in
their own way
K3
Let’s Imagine
Imagination can be expressed through language
and the Arts.
1
Extinction Is Forever
Once a species is extinct it can never be
brought back again
2
Off The Drawing Board
People invent
things to make their lives easier and better
3
Life On The Nile
The Nile Valley was the life source that
helped the Ancient Egyptians to flourish
4
Getting To Know Me
Exploring our history and experiences can help
us learn about ourselves
5
The Exhibition
What’s Up? “Tween Scene
It
is important to make informed decisions and be
responsible for your own actions in order to
become a balanced individual
Michael Berry
Assistant Elementary Principal
IBPYP Coordinator
The
Elementary Counselling Department’s web page is
now up and running! Please take a minute to have a
look by visiting the ABA Website and clicking on
Learning at ABA, Elementary, then Counselling. The
web provides valuable information about our
Counselling and Personal Social Education (PSE)
programs and provides excellent resources for
students and parents. Besides useful websites
relating to our PSE units, you will find an
on-line monthly newsletter filled with
research-based parenting tips and ideas to
motivate children, build self-esteem and
responsibility, encourage reading and learning at
home, improve discipline methods, and more. There
is also a monthly Activities Calendar that
provides parents with practical, fun ideas on how
to support your child's learning through daily,
age appropriate activities which promote
consistent parent-child communication.Enjoy!
The
MOM POP HIP HOP! is coming on Wednesday, March 24
from 5:00-6:30pm. Tickets will be on sale
beginning this Saturday, March 13 before school in
front of the ECE/Grade 1 building. Tickets are RO
1 per person and sales are restricted to grade 1
and 2 students and their parents only. All
children MUST be accompanied by their parent(s) or
guardian(s), as the purpose is for you to have a
special night alone with your youngster! Ticket
purchase includes a drink and personal pizza and
all proceeds go to our friends living in Mrs.
Harder’s Tanzanian orphanage. First come, first
serve, as dance space is limited!
Our
grade 8 students have returned from a demanding,
but highly rewarding Adventure Oman trip to Tanuf
near Nizwa. Seventy-
six
students spent two nights and three days hiking,
cooking their own meals, completing worthwhile
community service activities and sleeping in
tents. If you are the parent of a grade 8 student,
I am certain you will hear many stories from your
child over the weekend after they have a sleep and
a shower!
There
are exciting opportunities offered by NHI, the
National Hospitality Institute for middle school
students. They are offering six week “Junior Chef”
courses for three hours on Thursday mornings. If
your child is interested in this, I have placed
brochures on the notice board outside my office
and in the PTA area.
Grade 6 students will begin a PSE unit, “Changes
During Adolescence”. Grade 8 unit of study,
beginning after the March holiday will be
“Developing Healthy Relationships.” Please note,
parents of grade 6 pupils will be asked to sign a
parental consent form and grade 8 parents will be
invited to attend a meeting with Ms Anthony and Mr
Savage to discuss this unit.
Many
CONGRATULATIONS to all our Grade 10
students on their MYP Personal Project Exhibition
on Tuesday night.
It was
wonderful to see our students sharing their
Personal Project journey and final products with
our ABA Community. We are all incredibly proud of
our Grade 10 students and we hope that many of
their projects continue to be developed, enhanced
and even professionally published in the future!
Grade 11 students
are all safely returned from their Discovery week
trips. The week was a great success and full of
positive and inspiring experiences for those
students. The students were a credit to
themselves, the school and their families. Thanks
go to the thirteen high school teachers who gave
up time with their families and did such a great
job in organizing and leading the trips.
Mid-Semester Reports for Grades 10 and 12
are scheduled to go home with students on March 15th.
The date is earlier than for other grades in order
to fit in with the calendar of IB and IGCSE
examinations. Student- teacher- parent
conferences for Grades 10 and 12 only are
scheduled for March 21st from 4:00 pm
until 7:00 pm. Conference booking details will go
out with reports. Mid-Semester Reports for Grades
9 and 11 (and Middle School) are scheduled to go
home on April 10th.
Grade 12 students
begin IB examinations on Tuesday, May 4th
and end on 24th May. Study leave
begins on May 1st. Students have the
option of studying at school when they have no
examinations or, with parental approval, may study
at home. Additionally, a special schedule of
optional revision classes will be arranged to
provide last minute tips in the run up to each
examination.
Grade 10 students
begin IGCSE examinations on Tuesday 11th
May and study leave begins the day before.
Students have the option of studying at school
when they have no examinations or, with parental
approval, may study at home. A special schedule
of
optional revision classes will be arranged to
provide last minute tips in the run up to each
examination. Additionally, a special schedule of
classes will be set up for Grade 10 students who
have opted to sit only a few or no IGCSE
examinations.
Thank
you to the Grade 11 students and parents who
attended the university evening on Sunday, March
7. The presentation has been uploaded on the ABA
website for your viewing. I look forward to
working with your sons and daughters through their
university search and application process.
Family
Connection Registration
For
high school parents who have not registered for
Family Connection, please email me at
mfrederickson@abaoman.edu.om for your
registration code.
Upcoming University Visits
US
Educational Fair, March 24, 7-9pm, Hyatt
New
York University-Abu Dhabi, March 28, 1030 am, ABA
American University in Paris, March 29, 1030am,
ABA
Council of International Schools University Tour,
April 17, 945am, ABA
Aston
University, University College London, and
University of Nottingham, April 19, 1030am, ABA
GHEDEX, April 20-22, Exhibition Center
Council of International Schools, April 18 at 9:55
at ABA
Check Family Connection for the current university
visit information.
Marcie Frederickson
High School Counselor/University Advisor
Quarter 3 will end this week. Quarter 4 activities
will start up close to April; Grade 1 students
will be included. Paper work for the final quarter
will be coming home around the end of the March.
Parents of Grade 1 students are requested to go
through all the activities available with your
children and explain that they need to select
three, but will only receive one. Any questions
please contact Kelly Rambo at
krambo@abaoman.edu.om.
MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL
Destination Imagination
will be back on Tuesday.
Golf:
All
students involved in the after-school golf program
will be going to the course on Saturday
March 13th. You will go by bus and
return on the bus. The bus will leave ABA at
2:30pm and will leave the course at 4pm.
SPORT TEAMS: VIPERS
Coming Soon - Under 14 Basketball
Try-outs will start near the end of March or first
week after Spring Break. Information will be
posted as soon as dates have been finalized.
Track and field
Congratulations to all the students who made the
2010 Viper Track & Field Team. More than fifty
students will be traveling this year.
Basketball
Both
JV and Varsity Basketball Teams will be heading
off to their final tournaments this weekend. JV
will be heading off to Dubai while Varsity will be
going to Kuwait. Good Luck to both the teams and
their coaches.
Next Book Sharing Coffee Morning: WEDNESDAY
17TH MARCH 2010 at 7.40AM
A Midsummer Night’s Dream - Make-up helpers
requiredfor
cast of 30, HS/MS production directed by Nigel
Tickner
1st
dress SAT 27TH MARCH
2.30pm – 6.00pm
(Specialist make-up only – rest of cast without
make up)
2nd
dress SUN 28TH MARCH
7.40am – 11.15am
(Costume and full make-up – everyone on stage)
1st
Performance MON 29TH MARCH
Curtain up 7.00pm; make-up from 6.00pm
Show finishes at 9.30pm
2nd
Performance TUES 30TH MARCH
Curtain up 7.00pm; make-up from 6.00pm
Show finishes (with speeches) at 9.45pm
Make up Requirements
Mostly
pancake but some specialist make-up required
(fantasy)
For
example, Oberon and Titania
in blue
Puck with satyr horns (on and off as he plays
Philostrate too)
Fairies – make-up to go with multi-coloured wigs
Prior
to dress rehearsals, for example on Thursday 18th
March (any time during the day 0900-1800) would be
good for artistes to come in and see what make up
may still need to be bought from Kryolan and see
Director’s requirements.
For
performances and dress rehearsals, at least one
make-up artiste required back stage throughout.
Obviously with a reasonable sized make-up team,
it’s possible to share the responsibilities so
everyone gets to see the performance.
In the
2nd dress rehearsal on 28th
March, the Director will require a make up artist
to sit out front during the rehearsal to spot any
make up which might need changing on actors once
seen under stage lights
Wanda
Harssema (Middle School Teacher) Assisting with
Make-Up
All
offers of help, please contact Abi Wilson
(92993130)
International Food Fair – Wednesday 17th
March 6.00pm – 8.30pm
One
week to go for the organization committee and we
have 42 countries being represented!!
Coupons will be on sale from Saturday 13th
March, 7.15am -7.45am and 2.00pm-2.30pm outside
the ECE daily. The coupons are 200bzs each (5for
OMR1).
Please
remember that in keeping with our emphasis this
year on our environment, if you want to take food
home from the fair you could bring your own
containers from home as opposed to using
disposable ones. Also think before you throw your
plate away as you move from one country to the
next. Could you re-use it?
Country Reps –
If you would like to contribute music from your
country, please put it on a CD and give it to JP
in Admin by no later than Monday 15th.
You may set up your stalls from 3.30pm onwards to
be ready by 5.45pm
Indian Table– It’s not too late for donations. Please
send in your contributions towards the Indian Food
Stall to Mr. Vasu in the Admin. In case you would
like to volunteer for the event or help sponsor
the stall in any way; please contact Veera on
95034597.
The
International Food Fair Committee are looking
forward to you joining them and celebrating this
wonderful ABA Event.
Art Exhibition and Social Evening
This
is a PTA sponsored event so free entry to all and
we really do urge you to come along to support our
talented parents and also take the opportunity to
meet others. It is from 7pm this Wednesday (March
10th) in the Secondary Cafeteria and Lecture room
- hope to see you there.
Watercolour Workshop
We
have a date for our watercolour workshop for
parents! It will be held on Saturday and Sunday
the 27th and 28th March.
The cost for the two sessions will be OMR 50.
Anyone interested should please contact either Abi
Wilson (abiwilson7@gmail.com)
or Barbara Devine (bdevine@abaoman.edu.om).
Volunteer Companies for Grade 10 Job Shadowing
The
Grade 10 students will be participating in a two
day Job Shadow program as part of their
curriculum. On these days, students go to a place
of employment to “Shadow” someone with the hope of
learning more about a specific profession. More
info can be found at
http://www.abaoman.edu.om/ABA_Site/General/NewsLetterEvent/Events/JobShadow.htm.
It’s a
great experience and most students find a
placement through family or friends. However, not
everyone can secure their own placement. If you
feel that could take on one of these students
within your company, please contact Marcie
Frederickson on
mfrederickson@abaoman.edu.om , by the end of
March.
There
will be another Book Coffee Morning this month
with the aim of sharing books at the amazing price
of 200 Baiza per book. If you wish to make any
book donations, please bring on the day, or feel
free to leave books at anytime in the PTA room.
This will take place on Wednesday March 17th from
7.40pm. Please come and browse the many great
titles and the odd DVD that arrive.
** For Sale!!! To buy!!!
Exchange or Change!!! Carpool or Babysitting!!!!**
Please forward your classified ads to Susan Adams
on
susanadams05@gmail.com
, by no later than the Sunday before you wish it
to appear in the Newsletter.Adverts
will feature in the newsletter for one week and
then, if requested, may feature on the PTA notice
board beside the main gate for a further 2 weeks,
unless arrangements already in place.
For
Sale
LG
42'' LCD Television with new wall fitting bracket
– 180 Rials
Childs ride on Plasma car - 18 Rials
As-new portable air conditioning unit - 30 Rials
ELC
fairground toys for ages 2 to 4 - 10 Rials
ELC
toy garage with two cars for ages 2 to 4 - 10
Rials
